| Henry VI | |
|---|---|
| Emperor of the Romans | |
 Contemporary portrait from the Liber ad honorem Augusti, 1196 | |
| Holy Roman Emperor | |
| Reign | 15 April 1191 – 28 September 1197 |
| Coronation | 15 April 1191, Rome |
| Predecessor | Frederick I |
| Successor | Otto IV |
| King of Germany (King of the Romans) | |
| Reign | 15 August 1169 – 28 September 1197 |
| Coronation | 15 August 1169, Aachen |
| Predecessor | Frederick I |
| Successor | Philip and Otto IV |
| King of Italy | |
| Reign | 21 January 1186 – 28 September 1197 |
| Coronation | 21 January 1186, Milan |
| Predecessor | Frederick I |
| Successor | Otto IV |
| King of Sicily (jure uxoris) | |
| Reign | 25 December 1194 – 28 September 1197 |
| Coronation | 25 December 1194, Palermo |
| Predecessor | William III |
| Successor | Constance |
| Co-ruler | Constance |
| Born | November 1165 Nimwegen, Holy Roman Empire |
| Died | 28 September 1197 (aged 31) Messina, Kingdom of Sicily |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | |
| Issue | Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor |
| House | Hohenstaufen |
| Father | Frederick Barbarossa |
| Mother | Beatrice I, Countess of Burgundy |
Henry VI (German: Heinrich VI.; November 1165 – 28 September 1197), a member of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was King of Germany (King of the Romans) from 1169 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1191 until his death. From 1194 he was also King of Sicily.
Henry was the second son of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and Beatrice I, Countess of Burgundy. Well educated in the Latin language, as well as Roman and canon law, Henry was also a patron of poets and a skilled poet himself. In 1186 he was married to Constance of Sicily, the posthumous daughter of the Norman king Roger II of Sicily. Henry, stuck in the Hohenstaufen conflict with the House of Welf until 1194, had to enforce the inheritance claims by his wife against her nephew Count Tancred of Lecce. Henry's attempt to conquer the Kingdom of Sicily failed at the siege of Naples in 1191 due to an epidemic, with Empress Constance captured. Based on an enormous ransom for the release and submission of King Richard I of England, he conquered Sicily in 1194; however, the intended unification with the Holy Roman Empire ultimately failed due to the opposition of the Papacy. In Sicily, Henry had a reputation for ruthless suppression of political opponents.[1] To this day, he is sometimes given the epithet "the Cruel" (il crudele) by Italian historiographers. [2][3]
Henry threatened to invade the Byzantine Empire after 1194 and succeeded in extracting a ransom, the Alamanikon, from Emperor Alexios III Angelos in return for cancelling the invasion. He made the Kingdom of Cyprus and the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia formal subjects of the empire and compelled Tunis and Tripolitania to pay tribute to him. In 1195 and 1196, he attempted to turn the Holy Roman Empire from an elective to a hereditary monarchy, the so-called Erbreichsplan, but met strong resistance from the prince-electors. Henry pledged to go on crusade in 1195 and began preparations. A revolt in Sicily was crushed in 1197. The Crusaders set sail for the Holy Land that same year but Henry died of malaria at Messina on 28 September 1197 before he could join them. His death plunged the Empire into the chaos of the German throne dispute for the next 17 years.
- ^ Pavlac, Brian (18 October 2013). "Henry VI". In Emmerson, Richard K. (ed.). Key Figures in Medieval Europe: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 323. ISBN 978-1-136-77519-2.
- ^ Bausilio, Giovanni (19 January 2018). Re e regine di Napoli (in Italian). Key Editore. p. 51. ISBN 978-88-6959-944-6. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
- ^ Ambra, Sebastiano (18 November 2022). Breve storia di Catania (in Italian). Newton Compton Editori. p. 79. ISBN 978-88-227-7091-2. Retrieved 16 July 2023.